Sydney Roosters co-captain Jake Friend admits his NRL side’s crumbling defence will be a focus this week after back-to-back losses going into Friday’s clash with Newcastle.

The Roosters have missed a combined 90 tackles in their past two losses to Manly and Brisbane – the same amount they missed in their undefeated opening month of the competition.

“It was a lot of missed tackles, and a lot of offloads. I’m sure we will be going over it and doing a bit of work on it during the week,” Friend said.